When is the royal wedding? An hour-by-hour breakdown of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day

Royal wedding timeline: When it's all happening

Author:
Maeve McDermott, USA TODAY

Published:
10:50 AM EDT May 7, 2018

Updated:
4:15 AM EDT May 19, 2018

NBC's "Inside the Royal Wedding: Harry and Meghan" takes viewers behind the scenes.

Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock

Harry and Meghan’s wedding day is almost here.

On May 19, thousands of people will descend on Windsor Castle to catch a glimpse of the new royal couple, with a lucky 600 guests attending the nuptials.

For interested viewers from North America tuning into the royal wedding on TV or streaming services, Kensington Palace shared a schedule of the day’s events, perfect for viewing party-planning purposes.

A timeline of how the royal wedding festivities will unfold:

4 a.m. ET (9 local time): Charity workers, local school children, employees of the queen and other special attendees nominated by authorities to be present for the royal wedding will arrive inside the grounds of Windsor Castle, ready to cheer Harry and Meghan on from outside the chapel.

4:30 a.m. ET (9:30): The buses carrying the guests who received invitations to attend the ceremony at St. George’s Chapel will begin arriving on site.

6:20 a.m. EDT (11:20): Members of the royal family will begin to arrive. Some will be on foot, others will arrive by car.

Wouldn't those flowers look nice on the table with a roasted chicken (the meal Markle and Harry were prepping when he popped the question)?

10/19

While at Nottingham Contemporary, Harry and Markle scoped out the Terrence Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair.

11/19

They also, as one might expect, shook more hands.

12/19

On Nov. 27, 2017, Harry and Markle posed for photos the day their engagement was announced in the Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace, where Harry resides.

13/19

Prince Harry and his fiance, Meghan Markle, announced their engagement on Nov. 27, 2017 at Kensington Palace.

14/19

Harry and Markle have the gazing-lovingly-at-each-other-thing down.

15/19

Photographers zoomed in on the most important part of her ensemble: Her engagement ring, a square cushion diamond surrounded by two stones on a gold band.

16/19

On Sept. 25, 2017, Markle and Harry were snapped in Toronto at the Invictus Games, an athletic competition Harry founded for wounded warriors.

17/19

This appearance marked the first time the couple was photographed at a public event.

18/19

The two appeared very much in love.

19/19

They arrived for the wheelchair tennis competition holding hands.

Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, will depart Cliveden House Hotel, where Markle stayed overnight, around this time. Their journey to the castle will involve a car ride down Windsor Castle’s Long Walk entryway where the public will be gathered. The car will stop at the chapel to allow Ragland to enter, while Markle will continue on to join her bridesmaids and pageboys at St. George’s West Steps. She will wait there to walk down the aisle.

Prince Harry and Prince William will enter on foot to greet well-wishers gathered within the Windsor Castle grounds, with Harry greeting 200 special guests from his charities in the Horseshoe Cloister at the bottom of the chapel’s West Steps.

7 a.m. ET (noon): The service will begin, lasting about an hour. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will officiate the wedding, while the Dean of Windsor, bishop David Conner, will conduct the service. American Michael Bruce Curry, presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, will give the address.

8 a.m. ET (1 p.m.): The service will conclude and Harry and Meghan will exit the church together, greeting the representatives of Harry's charities in the Cloister first, then their close family members on the West Steps, before entering their Ascot Landau carriage for a 25-minute procession, waving to the crowd before entering the reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at St. George's Hall in the castle.

The rest of the day: Kensington Palace hasn’t made public details about Harry and Meghan’s schedule for the day, only sharing that the newlyweds will depart Windsor Castle following the afternoon luncheon for a private sit-down dinner for 200 hosted by Prince Charles. The evening's reception will be held at Frogmore House, a 17th-century manor on the castle estate where the royal couple posed for some of their engagement photos.

Get ready for the Royal Wedding

01/25

A general view shows St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London, where Britain's Prince Harry and U.S. actress Meghan Markle will hold their wedding ceremony May 19.
Britain's Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle will marry on May 19 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Dominic Lipinski / EMBARGOED -- NOT FOR USE UNTIL 0001GMT MONDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2018DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: AFP_ZH0SD

02/25

Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle on the day of their engagement announcement in November. Here they are on the grounds of Kensington Palace in London.

03/25

Invitations were printed at the workshop of Barnard and Westwood in London for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.

04/25

The wedding of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will take place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19.

05/25

The wedding of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will take place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19. Here is another view of the castle.

06/25

This is another view of Windsor Castle.

07/25

This is the west door of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

08/25

A general view shows the choir in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will hold their wedding ceremony.

09/25

This is the nave in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

10/25

This altar is housed in the choir in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will hold their wedding ceremony. Only 600 guests will be allowed into the ceremony.

11/25

St George's Hall at Windsor Castle is where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will hold a reception after their wedding.

12/25

The town of Windsor is getting ready for the Royal Wedding. Security preparations are already underway.

13/25

There's already heightened security around Windsor Castle in preparation for the Royal Wedding next month.

14/25

Swans swim along the River Thames in Windsor.

15/25

Bunting with the image of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hangs outside a fish and chip shop in Windsor. The town is getting excited for the wedding.

16/25

Wedding memorabilia is already on display at shops in Windsor.

17/25

Salman Qadir, manager of the King and Queen gift shop in Windsor, displays a mug for sale with the image of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

18/25

Fridge magnets with a picture of Windsor Castle are displayed for sale in a store in preparation for the Royal Wedding.

19/25

Masks depicting Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle are displayed for sale in Windsor.

20/25

Mugs marking the wedding of Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle are on display at a souvenir shop in London.

21/25

A souvenir plate for the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is displayed next to plates bearing images of his mother Princess Diana and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II for sale in a shop in London.

Wedding bells for Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle won't ring until May 19 but the cash registers in the town of Windsor already are. Masks depicting the engaged couple are among the souvenirs for sale in the town outside the walls of Windsor Castle where the two will wed.

02/18

A view of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where Harry and Meghan will exchange wedding vows. Dating back to the 14th century, it seats about 800 people and has been the venue where other royals have wed, including Harry's father, Prince Charles, and his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, in 2005.

03/18

A view of part of massive Windsor Castle, which is more than 900 years old.

04/18

You can find royal wedding regalia right across the street from Windsor Castle's walls, at shops near a statue of Queen Victoria at the foot of Castle Hill.

05/18

Wedding memorabilia fills Windsor's shops and spills out on to the streets.

06/18

The royal wedding is still 100 days off but tourists already have their wallets out. Here, a woman is photographed in front of wedding memorabilia at a Windsor shop.

07/18

Hearts and flowers for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are selling out in Windsor in advance of their May 19 nuptials.

08/18

Royal face masks include not only Harry and Meghan, but Prince William and Duchess Kate and Queen Elizabeth II.

09/18

You can't have a royal wedding without royal wedding tea mugs.

10/18

A Harry and Meghan bookmark is easier to take home and not as breakable as porcelain tea mugs.

11/18

Refrigerator magnets with a picture of Windsor Castle are a popular souvenir.

The sheer number of souvenir items is impressive but not unusual for royal weddings, which typically fuel massive spending by visitors and citizens. Over the years, royal weddings have been a major boon to the British economy.

16/18

Indifferent to the wedding-and-commerce frenzy, swans glide on the River Thames at Windsor.

17/18

But it's not all fanfare and tea towels. Controversy has erupted about what to do about Windsor's homeless people in advance of May's royal wedding.

18/18

Sunny, seen here cradling his pot of porridge on High Street opposite Windsor Castle, told USA TODAY he has has been living on the street in this spot for around 8 months. He was one of a dozen homeless people sheltering on the streets of Windsor in early February. The local authorities plans to sweep them off the streets before the royal wedding has triggered indignation.